UCLA Gymnastics Breaks 198 in Wire-to-Wire Win Against Stanford
For the second week in a row, Jordan Chiles had a career day.
This time, however, she finally reached perfection on bars.
No. 5 UCLA gymnastics ran away with the dual-meet win over No. 21 Stanford on Sunday, breaking the 198-mark for the first time all season in the 198.175-196.825 victory. Chiles led the way with a career-high 39.875 in the all-around, highlighted by a perfect 10 on the uneven bars that got the packed Pauley Pavilion rocking.
The big-time outing from Chiles comes just seven days after she set a career high down in Tucson, and she managed to one-up it by posting another four scores of 9.925 or better.
Chiles, again, had plenty of help, as she wasn't even the high scorer in the opening rotation on vault.
Sophomore Emily Lee led things off with a 9.825, and sophomore Emma Malabuyo posted a 9.800 after freshman Maddie Anyimi's 9.750. That's when Chae Campbell maxed out with a 9.950, which was immediately followed up by freshman Selena Harris' 9.850 and Chiles' 9.925.
Senior Kalyany Steele started a run of five-straight scores of 9.900 or better on bars, as sophomore Ana Padurariu and Harris dropped back-to-back 9.950s. Redshirt senior Margzetta Frazier earned a 9.925, setting the table for Chiles' first perfect 10 in the event all season.
UCLA's 49.725 on bars was more than its best of the season – it was the third-best in program history.
At the point, the Bruins were already up 99.075-98.425, and the gap only grew after a clean run through the beam rotation.
Lee and freshman Ciena Alipio had the low scores at 9.800 and 9.825, respectively, while the rest of the scores UCLA counted were all in the 9.900s. Chiles was a split-decision away from another perfect 10 at 9.975, while Harris posted a 9.925 and Malabuyo put up a 9.900.
The Bruins' signature floor party lived up to the hype as well, with Lee opening things up with a 9.900. Malabuyo earned a 9.925, Harris got a 9.900, Chiles once again scored a 9.975 and Campbell knocked out a 9.950 to break the 198 mark.
It was the first time all season that UCLA achieved that feat, and therefore the first time coach Janelle McDonald guided a team over that threshold. The Bruins are now 3-0-1 in their last four dual-meets, averaging 197.963 in that stretch.
UCLA will wrap up the regular season against Iowa State on Saturday. The Senior Meet will get going at Pauley Pavilion at 12 p.m. and it will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF UCLA ATHLETICS